Monthly Archives: August 2012

They just can’t help themselves. Look at all the drones who retweeted that.

In the insular world of the hard left – this is thought of as a “deft”, “snarky”, “cheeky” response from an administration that has always been “adept” at social media.

To me, and I think a lot of Americans – it looks petty and narcissistic. Why would the President want to get into a petty pissing match with a movie legend who is loved by Americans of all political stripes?

Last night was supposed to be Mitt’s night, but the Obama campaign thought it was a good idea to blitz him with negative media, and wedge SCOAMF into the spotlight.

President Barack Obama’s media team launched a huge wave of emails, tweets, videos and snark in the hours prior to Mitt Romney’s pivotal acceptance speech in Tampa, Fla., and then another wave as Romney spoke to the convention and to the nation’s voters.

Obama’s flacks even quoted articles from Rolling Stone.

The volume of material seemed intended to obscure, taint and distract from Romney’s carefully choreographed and emotional outreach to late-deciding swing voters, especially to women and Hispanics.

The Romney team’s all-angles outreach included the nominees’ home movies, testimonials from fellow Mormons, Clint Eastwood’s validation, Sen. Marco Rubio’s elegy to American exceptionalism and Romney’s own practiced speech.

I’m not sure he could have pulled that off if he’d delivered a slick telepromptered pitch. As Mr. Hayward suggests, the hard lines packed more of a punch for being delivered in the midst of a Bob Newhart empty-chair shtick from the Dean Martin show circa 1968. Indeed, they were some of the hardest lines of the convention and may well prove the take-home (“We own this country . . . Politicians are employees of ours . . . And when somebody does not do the job, we’ve got to let them go”), but they seemed more effective for appearing to emerge extemporaneously from the general shambles.

The curse of political operatives is that they make everything the same. A guy smoothly reading platitudinous codswallop while rotating his head from the left-hand teleprompter to the right-hand teleprompter like clockwork as if he’s at Centre Court watching the world’s slowest Wimbledon rally is a very reductive idea of “professionalism.” Even politicians you’re well disposed to come across as slick bores in that format. Which is by way of saying Clint is too sharp and too crafty not to have known what he was doing.

Does he ramble? He sure does. But what is the problem with that? No, it’s not a political speech where every line is thought out and scrubbed and edited to an inch of its life, all for the purpose of delivering a precise message in a precise way. It’s Clint Eastwood offering his general, barely rehearsed political thoughts.

And so it rambles. And, when it’s not rambling, it kills. In fact, some rambles are hilarious, like when he suddenly remembers he wants to talk about attorneys and then gets wound up about that.

We’re dealing with the East German judges here. Clint Eastwood did a great routine with a few technical errors here and there, and the East German judges are offering a score of 1.4 out of 10.

And their hope is that if they just keep flashing that score over and over, they can influence the other judges.

Like this:

Oh, this is fun. I was wondering who the Democrats were going to have speaking at the Obamacrat Convention. The smarter ones are staying away. That leaves hardcore progs from deep blue districts and other assorted Obama loyalists and hangers on.

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, who will be the first Latino keynote speaker at a Democratic National Convention

Former President Bill Clinton

Former Republican Governor of Florida Charlie Crist

Former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Tammy Duckworth

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Georgetown Law School Graduate Sandra Fluke

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx

Former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm

California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper

Montana State Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau

Former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine

Lieutenant General Claudia Kennedy (ret.)

Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California

CarMax co-founder and former CEO Austin Ligon

President of NARAL Pro-Choice America Nancy Keenan

Caroline Kennedy

Women’s rights activist Lilly Ledbetter

Obama Campaign Co-Chair Eva Longoria

U.S. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter

U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, together with the women of the U.S. Senate

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick

President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund Cecile Richards

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak

Journalist Cristina Saralegui

Costco co-founder and former CEO Jim Sinegal

Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland

Los Angeles Mayor, Democratic Convention Chair Antonio Villaraigosa

Senate candidate from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren

Congressman G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina

Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina Walter Dalton

The Honorable Arne Duncan

Former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt

U.S. Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina

Former Governor of North Carolina Jim Hunt

The Honorable Karen Mills

Congressman David Price of North Carolina

The Honorable Ken Salazar

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius

The Honorable Tom Vilsack

Congressman Mel Watt of North Carolina

Seriously?! Where are the beloved leaders of the party – Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid? (See update.) No Hillary?! Most of the names l recognize are toxic progs like Sebelius, Barbara Lee, Gov. O’Malley, Barbara Mikulski and Salazar or repugnant has beens like Jimmah, BJ, and Lurch, not to mention one reviled political opportunist, Charlie Crist, and one very unappealing vagina advocate, Sandra Fluke. The icing on the cake of course is that the hostess of this mess will be the deeply unappealing Debbie Wasserman Schultz – (with relaxed curls and massive amounts of stage makeup.) What a train wreck.

All said, I fully expect to see plenty of “surprise” guests added to the DNC program to make up for the dearth of excitement in their scheduled speakers. Keep in mind, team O is acutely aware that they have to win the youth vote, and the ignoramus vote in huge numbers, so plenty of razzle-dazzle is in order. Hollywood is all in for Obama, so I expect to see some hip, young, A-list stars. I also suspect he’ll have an Olympic gold medalist or two from this years’ games.

UPDATE:

The list has gotten a little sadder and tawdrier since I posted this, yesterday. Looks like beloved Dems, Reid and Pelosi will be speaking, after all!

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will also lead a presentation of the women of the House:

Hooboy…

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez of New York Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Joyce Beatty of Ohio Candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii

Priorities.Last November Barack Obama sent a personal letter of condolence when rapper Heavy D passed away at 44.

The most touching part?

Al Sharpton read the note at the funeral.

Nothing against Heavy D. Never heard of him til now, and my sincere condolences to his family for his untimely loss.

This is just an obvious case of very offensive and unbalanced priorities on the President’s part. I don’t have a problem with Obama sending a personal letter of condolence to a rapper, if he is able to maintain the same standard for our fallen troops. But he isn’t.

It’s no wonder that several Military PACs have popped up to defeat this disgraceful, FUBAR President.

We, as veterans, legatees, and supporters of the Special Operations communities of all the Armed Forces, have noted with dismay and deep alarm the recent stream of highly damaging leaks of information about various aspects of America’s shadow war in the overall War on Terror. Our principles are the same as when we were in active service — Duty, Honor, Country.

Our goals are:

To emphasize the pressing need for the nation and its representatives to understand the value of our Constitution and actively support a return to its application in all phases of government;

To illuminate the failed operational security environment of the Administration and to provide the public with accurate information about these repeated releases of highly classified information;

To restore accountability in government and with it the trust in our government that We The People deserve and demand.

America is safe – when America is strong.Veterans for a Strong America is a non-partisan action organization dedicated to educating the public, members of Congress and the Executive Branch about our 5 Step Mission to make America Strong:

We must grow the world’s strongest, most robust economy and cut spending in order to reduce the National Debt

We must strengthen and modernize America’s Military so that no adversary will even contemplate a challenge to our security and safety

We must Implement a common-sense national energy policy that will power America into the 21st century

We must re-build our intelligence community in order to prevent another 9-11

We must design a legal framework that allows America’s law enforcement agencies to prosecute terrorism on a global battlefield

Like this:

The MSM had their marching orders from Team O, last night, so they were prepared to dispute specific points Paul Ryan made in his speech. As Guy Benson notes, very likely media outfits received a lot of angry emails from the Obama campaign purporting to “fact-check” Paul Ryan. Sadly, they ran with Team O’s “factchecks” without factchecking the factchecks. But the Obama shills in the Democrat media complex know the truth doesn’t matter. It’s the initial impression they make on Obama’s base and the undecideds that matters. People who still haven’t made up their minds by this point are not ones to go digging for the truth. They hear the “Ryan is a liar” soundbites on their way to the Entertainment channel or Bravo.

Still, Benson’s point by pointdismantling of the ad’s “rebuttals” is worth reading.

…instead of simply gritting their teeth and taking the hit, the Democratic Establishment is trying to incite its base by calling something true a lie. Which to me suggests that the Left – specifically, the Obama for America team – is simultaneously utterly contemptuous of its own base’s ability to reason, and quietly terrified that said base might eventually wise up to the fact that it’s being taken for the Mother Of All Rides.

A point I’ve made here a number of times. Obama has no respect for his own base. And why should he?

Here’s the “smoking gun video from April 2009 that puts the lie to Team O’s deception:

As readers of this fine blog know (see Andy’s piece below), the media has been caught using Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina’s lying tweets in a desperate, implausible and self-defeating attempt to smear Paul Ryan.

From mere seconds after the close of Ryan’s phenomenal address, Obama’s broken promise of a “100 YEAR FACTORY” to the workers of the Janesville GM Plant and the people of Wisconsin has been the hill on which the MSM has chosen to die. The media, like the Obama administration, has decided that this is another instance in which the only way to excuse a clear Obama failure is by forcing their viewers to drink heavily from the nearly dry “blame Bush” well in the hopes that a blackout will ensue. Hence their despiration to make the 2008 closing date stick, despite the clear fact that it closed under Obama’s economic “stewardship”, and contrary to his promises, in 2009.

This presents an opportunity that I encourage Romney/Ryan to take. And if Andrew Brietbart were alive, I think he’d be all over it too. Because Andrew Brietbart knew better than anyone how to take a false and empty media narrative and turn it against them.

Keep reading…

#WAR

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By the way, good luck getting a comment in on Obama’s Youtube channel. Mine was rejected. Only drones and astroturf are being approved, apparently.

Check out these unintentionally hilarious comments from the very drones for whom Obama has no respect:

Top comment:

Greatly disappointed in the GOP and their convention this year. They lost my vote.

May I make a request of my fellow conservative bloggers? Please quit citing Politifact as a reliable source. In the rare occasions it takes Obama to task – there are better sources to use to point out Obama’s lies. The only function Politifact should ever serve is as a barometer of how egregious Obama’s latest whopper is. In such instances, it would be appropriate to dryly note, “even Politifact couldn’t defend the President on this one.”

Like this:

Reportedly, Paul Ryan worked on his speech for weeks, and it was a doozy. While it was a serious speech, he managed to zing Obama several times throughout, but as Charles Krauthammer said on Fox News afterward, it was “done more in sorrow than in anger”. It was a smart speech that addressed Medicare head on as only the wonkish Ryan can. We can already predict the unserious demagoguery the Obamacrats are going to deploy in Charlotte, next week, and it will fun to make a contrast.

Paul Ryan is sincere. He means what he says. Obama and the rest of the Dems Socialists who still stand with him will have nothing but scaremongering and lies to offer in Charlotte, and Obama’s lies are getting less convincing with each telling.

•With all their attack ads, the president is just throwing away money — and he’s pretty experienced at that. You see, some people can’t be dragged down by the usual cheap tactics, because their ability, character, and plain decency are so obvious — and ladies and gentlemen, that is Mitt Romney.

•President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. (zing!)

•The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare, and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal. What did the taxpayers get out of the Obama stimulus? More debt. That money wasn’t just spent and wasted — it was borrowed, spent, and wasted.

•Obamacare comes to more than two thousand pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees, and fines that have no place in a free country.

•So our opponents can consider themselves on notice. In this election, on this issue, the usual posturing on the Left isn’t going to work. Mitt Romney and I know the difference between protecting a program, and raiding it. Ladies and gentlemen, our nation needs this debate. We want this debate. We will win this debate.

•It all started off with stirring speeches, Greek columns, the thrill of something new. Now all that’s left is a presidency adrift, surviving on slogans that already seem tired, grasping at a moment that has already passed, like a ship trying to sail on yesterday’s wind.

•President Obama was asked not long ago to reflect on any mistakes he might have made. He said, well, “I haven’t communicated enough.” He said his job is to “tell a story to the American people” — as if that’s the whole problem here? He needs to talk more, and we need to be better listeners?

•Ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the White House. What’s missing is leadership in the White House. And the story that Barack Obama does tell, forever shifting blame to the last administration, is getting old. The man assumed office almost four years ago — isn’t it about time he assumed responsibility?

•My Mom started a small business, and I’ve seen what it takes. Mom was 50 when my Dad died. She got on a bus every weekday for years, and rode 40 miles each morning to Madison. She earned a new degree and learned new skills to start her small business. It wasn’t just a new livelihood. It was a new life. And it transformed my Mom from a widow in grief to a small businesswoman whose happiness wasn’t just in the past. Her work gave her hope. It made our family proud. And to this day, my Mom is my role model.

•President Obama is the kind of politician who puts promises on the record, and then calls that the record.

•College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life.

•None of us have to settle for the best this administration offers — a dull, adventureless journey from one entitlement to the next, a government-planned life, a country where everything is free but us.

•We’re a full generation apart, Governor Romney and I. And, in some ways, we’re a little different. There are the songs on his iPod, which I’ve heard on the campaign bus and on many hotel elevators. He actually urged me to play some of these songs at campaign rallies. I said, I hope it’s not a deal-breaker Mitt, but my playlist starts with AC/DC, and ends with Zeppelin.

•Each of these great moral ideas is essential to democratic government — to the rule of law, to life in a humane and decent society. They are the moral creed of our country, as powerful in our time, as on the day of America’s founding. They are self-evident and unchanging, and sometimes, even presidents need reminding, that our rights come from nature and God, not from government.